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T O P I C R E V I E W

John K. Rochester

The Christa McAuliffe documentary Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars won the top award at the High Falls Film Festival this past weekend here in Rochester, New York. Kudos to Renee Sotile and Mary Jo Godges for a wonderful film about not only Christa, but the entire crew of Challenger.

This is a film you MUST have when it is released on DVD...

In 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded, traumatizing the nation and taking the lives of the seven-member NASA crew. Among them was Christa McAuliffe, the first Teacher in Space. Reach for the Stars is her story. Christa McAuliffe was a courageous woman and passionate teacher whose lifelong commitment to education was so great that she gave her life for it. In this film, for the first time McAuliffe's family speaks out about the impact of her death, revealing the deep private loss behind the public tragedy and how it drastically altered their lives. Previously unseen footage and candid NASA interviews surround the events that tore a family apart and brought a nation to tears.

ASCAN1984

I am so glad it won. Although I have never seen it I know it deserves to win. I have been following the progress of this film since the first post about it here on collectSPACE. I cannot wait until it comes out on DVD. Has anyone else seen this film yet?

MY DVD arrived yesterday. It is the best spaceflight documentary I have ever seen. Well put together. When I saw the full challenger launch near the end I had feelings I had not had for a long time. Get this DVD. You will not be disappointed.

FFrench

I'll like to add my voice to the ones recommending this DVD. If you saw the TV version, it was significantly shorter, with none of the bonus footage features that enhance this package. This longer version has more emotional depth and detail. It was very moving without being at all saccharine (always a danger with these kinds of things) - and you really get to know Christa as a person thrust into a highly unusual situation, as well as her family then and now.

ColinBurgess

I have this DVD and it's quite superb, moving and well-produced. Apart from the two-minute sequence in which I appear!

A documentary about teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe has sold about 3,000 copies since the independent producers screened it in Framingham in January 2006.

Now the well-received, 75-minute DVD of "Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars," has a chance to reach a much wider audience through the world's biggest retail chain.

Wal-Mart, which has more than 3,300 U.S. stores, on Tuesday put the film on its shelves along with other DVD new releases.

randy

I picked up a copy today after I read about it here. It was very well done. I thought it handled the family's feelings and emotions very tastefully. I have already recommended it to a friend. It is a touching reminder of the sacrifices that are made so that we can indeed 'go where no one has gone before'.

It was 25 years ago, on January 28, 1986, that the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff, killing America's first Teacher in Space, Christa McAuliffe, along with six other crew members.

The events leading up to that day are documented in the powerful 75-minute film, Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars by filmmakers Renee Sotile and Mary Jo Godges, narrated by actress Susan Sarandon with original music by Carly Simon, whose music McAuliffe carried aboard the shuttle.

With exclusive photos, home movies and interviews that can only be seen in this film we learn that Christa was an advocate for equal rights and would not tolerate bullying in her classroom when it came to sexual orientation.

Tony Potter, Christa's student discusses her intolerance to bullies which made this young gay man feel "safe". "It just felt like she could accept who I really am. At least one person in the world would accept me. You know, it would be Mrs. McAuliffe," says Tony.

When philanthropist, Pepi Kelman saw the film she was so moved she approached the filmmakers about donating 10,000 DVDs to students and educators primarily through GLSEN, (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network).

"As we approach the 25th anniversary of the tragedy, it is only appropriate that we honor the legacy of Christa McAuliffe with the gift of this film to those who might otherwise not have experienced her teachings," says Kelman, donor and co-founder of DOCCLUB LA, a documentary film group in Los Angeles. "I hope that others will join me in this endeavor to reach even more students and teachers and put a stop to bullying once and for all."

Jonathon Del Arco, Develop Consultant at GLSEN says, "we are very excited to receive this film and be able to share it. We plan to give the DVD as a gift at our GALA events and encourage the film to be watched as a family."

"I miss my daughter very much and I'm comforted to know that she lives on in this wonderful film," says Grace Corrigan, Christa's mother. "And now, more people will get the chance to see it," she adds.

I watched this today. It's extremely well done, as others mention. But the blunt honesty shown by NASA managers, family members and others toward the end was unexpected. This program deserves a wider distribution. Maybe the Hulu announcement above will help.